A dental restoration, or a dental filling, utilizes a dental restorative material used to improve function, integrity and morphology of missing or irregular tooth structure. For example, a dental restoration may be used to restore missing tooth structure following external trauma or as part of a restorative treatment for dental caries, or tooth decay.
Restorative dentistry traditionally consists of drilling decay from an infected tooth (commonly referred to as “preparing” the tooth) and then using simple tools and a high level of craftsmanship to isolate, refract, fill and contour the finished restoration. Quality isolation via a rubber dam is cumbersome and often skipped for less effective isolation via cotton roles—increasing the risk of contamination which reduces longevity of the restoration. Retraction of soft and hard tissue includes manipulation of cords, wedges and matrix bands, and imperfect technique may result in contamination, residual flash in proximal areas, and poorly adapted contacts.
While ‘bulk fill’ restorative materials and high intensity curing lights facilitate relatively fast filling of deep cavities (e.g., 4-5 mm), many restorations are completed in a single shade as practitioners may be uncertain of the correct layering protocol for multiple shades or types of restorative material. Last, with little geometrical guidance available on a prepared tooth, creation of the final filling level and occlusal surface geometry may include overfilling with dental restorative material, followed by an iterative process of grinding and checking tooth contact and biting function on an anesthetized patient. This process may be the most time consuming for dental restorations and errors here may result in tooth sensitivity and return visits for adjustment.